Table 1.
Adolescent peer crowds and their characteristics and risk behavior profiles
| Crowd | Characteristics | Risk behavior profile |
|---|---|---|
| Elites (also known as hotshots, preppies, socials)a | Popular at school, active social lives | Increased risk of smoking (Dolcini & Adler, 1994; Mosbach & Leventhal, 1988) |
| Athletes (also known as jocks, cheerleaders)a | Popular at school, active in sports and school athletics | Neither increased nor decreased risk of smoking |
| Deviants (also known as stoners, druggies, gangsters)a | Rebellious, not uniformly popular or unpopular | Increased risk of smoking (Cohen, 1979; Eckert, 1983; La Greca, Prinstein, & Fetter, 2001; Mosbach & Leventhal, 1988; Sussman et al., 1990; Sussman et al., 1993; Sussman et al., 1994; Sussman et al., 1999; Sussman et al., 2000; Urberg, 1992) |
| Academics (also known as brains, nerds, eggheads)a | Perform well at school, less socially active | Decreased risk of smoking (Ashmore, Del Boca, & Beebe, 2002; Downs & Rose, 1991; Urberg et al., 2000) |
| Othersa | Diverse, do not fit in with other crowds | Neither increased nor decreased risk of smoking |
| Misfitsb | Nonconformists, often interested in emo and goth music and culture | Neither increased nor decreased risk of smoking |
| Countercultureb | Interested in underground culture, consider themselves hipsters or hippies | Increased risk of smoking (Moran, 2009) |
a
Delineated by Sussman and colleagues (2007).
b
Identified by Moran (2009); would be considered a deviant according to the perspective of Sussman and colleagues (2007).